Samhain, Halloween, All Hallow Eve, Day of The Dead- Whatever you call this upcoming day, it’s known across the globe. She curls her ancient finger hither, luring us to recognize her sooner than later. Dry and morbidly seductive dead leaves crunch under feet of all sizes. For some, this approaching date means a new start, well at least for me it usually does. Candy wrappers with residue scent your home, and dentists rake in the $$$ because of their deliciousness. It’s a wonderful time for fragrance. And pleasant things and changes happen to me. It came not from a pumpkin pie or some sort of red meat, but through Arabesque Aromas.
I found Arabesque Aromas through Etsy. I was hunting around for something to try, something I was not familiar with. I saw a listing for a natural perfume called Verditas, “Intriguing” I thought to myself. And the description she wrote for it caused even more interest on my part-

“Hildegard von Bingen, a German Abbess, composer, herbalist and mystic 1098-1179, wrote about the concept of ‘Veriditas’ in her book “Physica.”
She wrote in the middle High German colloquial and so the term, which she herself created, has been assigned several translations or meanings. A hybrid of the Latin word for truth, Veritas, and the Latin word for green, Veridis, Veriditas can be thought of as ‘greenness’ a spiritual term used to describe her vision of the green power of Nature and the unity of all creation.”
So I got it. I also received her house Kyphi, her other two perfumes, Seraphina, and The Golden Bough.
I am going to start off with Seraphina, the very first one I dropped on to my skin.  I refused to read the ingredients first, so I could test my NoseQ.On my skin, in the first few minutes I could pick up the warmth of orange, a lovely gentle orange, not a loud citrus, and quickly it introduced the queen and king of flowers: Rose and jasmine (sambac). If this perfume was a royal court and rose & jasmine are the monarchs, then the tuberose that rolled out was a happy little princess, displaying just a little sugar and a charming amount of sweet spice. She was almost devilishly girly, but her parents and the minstrel (orange) kept her in balance. My wrist and other points that had been caressed by this majestic court smelled lovely. Another member was quickly noticed, the scandalous, but always calm, Lady Angelica Root. After an hour or so the aristocracy played on, the kingly jasmine partied harder then the rest at this point, the queenly rose laughing.  The lady Angelica Root, taking a page from Josephine Bonaparte’s beauty book, and leaving a musky aroma lightly behind. This was a perfume that will take you places, and make you feel like you are a honored guest at a noble feast. My mother is very picky these days about perfume, and she adored Serafina. Serafina is actually based on the heavenly creatures, the Seraphim’s. But I went where I went. Lovely…
The concept for Verditas was explained above. It was what drew me in. The perfume oil contained vetiver root in the bottle, causing me to think of a woman in robes, and a pelican apparatus placed comfortably in a room filled with books and dust. And the image stayed as it sat on my skin. I don’t think I have experienced vetiver like this before! The robed woman is working over papers, candles are alight, and a smoke scented with vetiver drifts through the air. This is a mysterious smoky vetiver, and the wood in the room is cedar. Cedar mingles perfectly and politely subtle with the vetiver, while a sly eyed vanilla and a young benzoin pets the vetiver openly. The Lady Alchemist in my imagination wears this perfume, and when she does, it unfolds from it’s simple vetiver beginning until a fragrance that makes this studious woman become sultry, and powerful. What Arabesque Aromas  has done, is something unique with vetiver, she has altered how I feel him. The owner of the site adores this scent on me, as do I. It has great staying power, with the vetiver obviously evolving through the time you wear him. An outstanding perfume.
The Golden Bough- A book of folklore loved by modern pagans, folklore lovers, and esoteric nerds (the site owner at times) alike.
The Golden Bough by Arabesque Aromas- A concept about medieval pilgrims journey and traveling the labyrinth to the gold at the center.
But they both are magical pieces of art. It must be understood that lavender is not just lavender, just like one mountain peak is not just like any other mountain peak. I dripped this perfume oil onto my skin, drifting away into the Tasmanian lavender. A sweet floral it is, but not too sweet. A woody rescuer of sandalwood, and his regal friend jasmine sambac prevent the lavender from purpling the cottage walls up. Because this is the scent of a woman who knows her plants and herbs. She is simple in method but cunning, and can not be accurately imitated. In this cottage is a cat, and his name is Bergamot, and he will not stand for the atmosphere to be boring. And he does this well. He adds spice and spark to this comforting blend. I like it, it makes the title “The Golden Bough” it’s own. I now think of it and will always, when I hear those words aloud.  This perfume is very suitable for Fall, but I can easily see it fitting well into spring, right around the time the apple trees bloom. If you like sweet, but not fruity sweet, and not too floral sweet, then this is your blend.
I am so glad Kirsten Schilling (the  perfumer of Arabesque Aromas) sent me her loose Kyphi incense. I have come across many Kyphi incense in the past that were not to my taste or expectations. So I just did not review them. This Kyphi is very much worth a review. I can not claim I know the details that involve the making of Kyphi, but I can tell you I know it takes more time and labor than most incense. Another thing I want to state is that I can tell that the ingredients used in this incense were of high quality. So what did I smell when I laid the chunky loose incense on the charcoal? I smelled honey, a rich golden honey, something from a time past, and myrrh right off. I truly felt this must be what it was like to sniff the incense of Egypt, years and years ago. Cardamom and cinnamon bark cast a spicy brown aroma, smoothed by sandalwood and benzoin. Lemongrass gave it a slight, earthy anchor to keep the spices and the sweeter scents from tipping it too far into one direction. Rose, she garbs herself in a different mask when she mixes with fire, and she calmed all around her. My favorite, delightful orris, was there to lend a  bridge from the ancient world to ours. And the raisins and redwine, with quiet galangal, they were there to show what real hedonism is. Mastic and calamus root made an astounding effort to support lemongrass’s earthly efforts. I truly appreciate this incense, it told me what I wanted all the others to tell me, “This is what Kyphi is to smell like”. It burned well, and just like most incense sat upon hot charcoal, it does get smoky, but not nearly as aggressively as others.
Arabesque Aromas has really brought something to natural perfumery. Kirsten Schilling focus on period aromas, but at the same time, each one I have experienced is all hers. I was happily surprised by this perfume house and the perfumer. A true fragrant original.